Motorists are enduring misery on the roads in Harrogate today, with long delays on three of the main routes around town.
Wetherby Road, Skipton Road and Ripon Road have all been affected by incidents, bringing traffic to a standstill on the northern side of Harrogate.
Resurfacing outside the yet-to-open Leon drive-through close to the Woodlands junction is causing long delays in both directions on Wetherby Road and Hookstone Drive.
Resurfacing outside Leon
Traffic heading towards the Kestrel roundabout is backing up all the way from Leon to the Empress roundabout and all along Skipton Road to New Park roundabout – a distance of almost four miles.
The four-way traffic lights at the Woodlands junction, near the Leon site, brought tailbacks to Hornbeam Park.
Many vehicles were turning around in attempts to avoid the queues.
The fallen traffic lights.
The central reservation damaged by the traffic lights.
The situation was made worse this morning when a traffic light at the junction of Skipton Road and King’s Road, near Bilton Working Men’s Club, came crashing down.
That has now been removed but traffic was still queueing for miles in all directions when the Stray Ferret cycled around town at about midday today.
Queueing on Skipton Road
Motorists trying to avoid the delays on Skipton Road by heading into town on Ripon Road were hit by further roadworks outside Cygnet Hospital.
Roadworks on Ripon Road is adding to delays.
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Traffic lights coming to busy Knaresborough junction
Temporary traffic lights will operate in Knaresborough during two weeks of roadworks next month.
Multi-way traffic lights will be in place on York Road, at the junction of Wetherby Road, for a fortnight from April 11.
Northern Gas Networks, the gas distributor for the north of England, is replacing metal pipes with plastic pipes.
It said in a press release today the work would “ensure a safe and reliable supply of gas to customers now while getting the network ready to transport alternative greener fuels such as hydrogen in the future”.
The work has been planned in collaboration with North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority.
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Scott Kitchingman, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:
“We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential works. However, it is vital we complete them in order to continue to maintain a safe and reliable gas supply to our customers in Knaresborough.
“We want to assure residents and road users that we will be working hard to complete this essential scheme as safely and as quickly as possible.”
More roadworks coming to Harrogate’s Skipton Road
More roadworks will begin on Harrogate’s Skipton Road next week.
Highways authority North Yorkshire County Council will be carrying out improvements at the junctions with Bilton Lane and Woodfield Road.
At Bilton Lane, the pedestrian island will be removed and the island at the end of King’s Road will be widened.
The left turn from Woodfield Road on to Skipton Road will change from being controlled by traffic lights to being a give way to improve traffic flow and air quality.
The lights in the traffic lights at both junctions will be replaced with more energy-efficient LED lights.
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The work will begin on Monday and is due to complete on February 27, when half-term ends. However, temporary traffic lights are not expected to be required until February 19 as the initial work will take place off road.
Lights will initially be in place at the Bilton Lane junction before moving to the King’s Road and Woodfield junctions.
The Stray Ferret asked the council how much the work will cost.
Melisa Burnham, highways area manager, said:
Five weeks of gas works to start on Harrogate’s Skipton Road in New Year“These works are included in our annual highways maintenance budget of around £55 million, which covers planned maintenance programmes as well as responding to problems as they arise.”
Traffic lights will be in place at busy junctions on Skipton Road in Harrogate at the start of the New Year.
Northern Gas Networks will install temporary lights at the junctions with Knox Avenue, Bilton Grange Close and Skipton Crescent while it replaces metal pipes with plastic ones.
The company will begin the upgrade at January 4 at the junction with Knox Avenue. This will see three-way temporary traffic lights in place for two weeks.
From January 17, the lights will be moved to Bilton Grange Close where two-way lights will be placed at the junction of Skipton Road for a further week.
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For the final two weeks of the project, the two-way temporary traffic lights will be moved along Skipton Road, to the junction with Skipton Crescent.
Northern Gas Networks said in a statement that although most work will be carried out on the road, engineers will need access to customer properties to complete the project and ensure the continued safe and reliable supply of gas.
Scott Kitchingman, business operations lead for Northern Gas Networks, said:
State of roads in Ripon comes under spotlight“We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential works.
“We greatly appreciated the patience that Harrogate customers showed us when we carried out work at Skipton Road earlier this year, and we’ll be doing our very best to minimise any disruption during this project at Knox Avenue and Bilton Grange Close.
“However, it is vital we complete the work in order to continue to maintain a safe and reliable gas supply to the residents of Harrogate.
“Northern Gas Networks is continuing to carry out its essential activities while following strict guidelines for safe distance working, where possible, and following good hygiene practices as we continue to live with coronavirus.
“We want to assure residents and road users that we will be working hard to complete this essential scheme as safely and as quickly as possible.”
Independent Ripon councillors have accused North Yorkshire County Council of getting its road repairs priorities wrong.
They have asked the highway authority to explain the rationale behind resurfacing rural lay-bys instead of repairing city centre roads.
Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams told the Stray Ferret:
“Along a 16-mile stretch of road between Hawes and Leyburn, lay-bys have been re-surfaced to a very high standard, while many roads in Ripon are in desperate need of major work.
Pictured above is one of the recently re-surfaced lay-bys on the A684 Hawes to Leyburn Road and below is a section of Market Place East in Ripon
Barrie Mason, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for highways and transportation, said:
“The improvement work to lay-bys is funded by the government’s Safer Roads Fund, which has the aim of reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on the county’s roads.
“The Safer Roads Fund can only be used on certain roads within the county which meet the strict government criteria and is not to be used for routine maintenance.
“We have a comprehensive programme of planned maintenance schemes based on annual surveys of the whole road network that has produced a long-term trend of improving road condition.
“Ripon Market Place is being considered for future funding within our forward programme for 2022/23.
“A number of the areas of most concern are associated with poorly performing utility reinstatements and we are seeking urgent action on these from the companies concerned.”
Cllr Pauline McHardy said:
“We want all roads in the county to be safe and it is my view that the four roads around Market Place and other parts of the city centre are a danger to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, because of the state they are in.”
Her fellow city and Harrogate district council colleague, Sid Hawke, added:
“We keep asking for proper repairs to be done and while we wait, the road surfaces get worse and worse by the day.”
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Mayor of Ripon, Cllr Eamon Parkin, said:
“I just hope that the roads in and around the city centre have been fixed by then.”
Get set for delays on Ripon bypass
Essential maintenance work on Ripon’s Duchess of Kent bridge is scheduled to start on June 28 and take two weeks.
The bridge, crossing the River Ure, is part of the city’s bypass. It was officially opened by the Yorkshire-born duchess in March 1996.
The arterial road carries traffic around the city, avoiding Ripon’s ancient streets. It is a key route to the A1 and A1M
Advance warning signs are being put in place this week to advise drivers of likely delays.
Councillor Mike Chambers, North Yorkshire County Council’s member for Ripon North, said:
“The maintenance to this well-used bridge will involve replacing the expansion joints and surfacing works to remove the depressions at each end of the bridge.
“The work will be carried out overnight to minimise disruption as much as possible. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Work on the bridge will be carried out between 6pm and 6am over a two-week period.
The work will take place from 6pm to 6am using four-way traffic lights and is scheduled to finish on July 10.
At the northern end of the bridge is a roundabout with exits for Ripon city centre and Copt Hewick.
The lights will be removed before rush hour each day to reduce inconvenience to road users.
The council said it was notifying nearby residents directly affected by the roadworks.
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Road works in Harrogate district to continue during lockdown
Road works in the Harrogate district will continue during the third lockdown, according to North Yorkshire County Council.
Several long-term projects were scheduled to take place on some main routes at the start of the year, including Otley Road and Skipton Road in Harrogate.
The lockdown has brought many businesses to a halt, with staff encouraged to stay at home.
But county councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said construction projects, including street and road works, were permitted to continue in accordance with Public Health England and industry guidance.
He added:
“All of this work contributes to the safe, efficient operation of the highways network so other key workers can do what they need to do.”
“As traffic levels are reduced to a minimum, our repair work can be carried out quickly, efficiently and with little or no disruption.”
Mr Mackenzie added contractors were nearing completion of the £15.1m Local Full Fibre Networks scheme, which has seen 170km of gigabit fibre installed in 20 towns in North Yorkshire. He added:
“At the same time, the Superfast North Yorkshire project has continued throughout the covid pandemic in order to ensure that increasing numbers of businesses and households in rural areas have access to high quality broadband, which is even more vital in times of lockdown.”